


Like the Dead Sea

by fleurlb



Category: Friday Night Lights
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-23
Updated: 2012-12-23
Packaged: 2017-11-22 03:16:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/605232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fleurlb/pseuds/fleurlb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A brief character study, inspired by The Lumineers song "Dead Sea"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like the Dead Sea

_Like the Dead Sea  
You told me I was like the Dead Sea  
You'll never sink when you were with me  
I'm like the Dead Sea  
Finest words you ever said to me _

Clothes, books and papers were scattered over Matt's bed and onto the floor. He rolled onto his back and pulled Julie close to him, her face flushed and eyes wide. He felt calmer and happier than he had in a long time.

Matt brushed her hair off her face, running his hand down through the thick locks. A look of puzzlement passed over him, then he plucked a crumpled sheet of paper out of Julie's hair.

“What's that?” she asked.

He studied the paper for a second, then dropped it to the floor. “Geography notes.”

She laid her head on his chest, and he closed his eyes, the last words he saw burning into the back of his eyelids. The Dead Sea. He's always pictured it as a place of desolation and isolation, but then Mrs. Couruthers said that it was full of so much salt, you couldn't sink. The words were out of his mouth before he could think about how dumb he sounded.

“You're like the Dead Sea.”

“What?” asked Julie, hoisting herself up onto her elbow. “Dead and empty?”

Matt felt his cheeks burn. “No, I didn't mean it like that. It's just, you know that you'll always float in the Dead Sea.”

Her look was blank and he tried to explain, but he was flustered and all that would come out was a jumbled of stutters and half words.

“I'm messing with you, Matt. I think I know what you mean,” she finally said, letting him off the hook with a brilliant smile.

He returned the grin then leaned forward and kissed her.

\---//---

_Yes, there are times we live for somebody else  
Your father died and you decided to live it for yourself   
You felt, you just felt it was time  
And I'm glad_

Matt had been gone for three days, and Julie was sick of hearing his voicemail message. She'd lost track of the number of times that she'd called him and couldn't remember how many messages she'd actually left. She thought he probably was okay, that he probably wasn't dead somewhere. But that didn't make her hurt any less. 

She slumped against the wall and turned her phone over in her hands. She needed to stop calling him. She needed to just let him go, since that was clearly what he wanted. Things had been off with him for a long time, even before his dad died. So it was time for her to take the clue that the Universe was rubbing her nose in. She slipped her phone into her purse, blinked away tears, and started to walk away, running right into the last person she expected to see.

“Julie Taylor.”

“Tim Riggins First and last names, is that a thing now?” Her words sounded hollow even to her.

“How are you doing?” asked Tim, nearly looking through her.

“Awesome. How are you?” replied Julie, forcing herself to meet Tim's gaze. He looked like he'd been punched in the gut recently. She remembered seeing Lila at the funeral and wondered briefly what sort of wounds that might have opened. But then she shrugged off the thought. Tim Riggins didn't do regrets. 

“Awesome,” echoed Tim, not making it sound like any less of a lie. “I was going to help out with practice today, but I think Coach will understand.”

“Coach will definitely not understand. Trust me on this one.” 

“Nah, he won't, but let's not let that stop us. I need a milkshake and so do you.”

Fifteen minutes later, Julie had to admit that Tim was right about the milkshake, even though being in the Alamo Freeze hurt.

“Penny for your thoughts, Taylor?” asked Tim, leaning back in his seat. 

“He told me I was like the Dead Sea,” said Julie. 

“I don't even know what to say to that,” said Tim.

“He meant it in a good way, he meant he needed me. So I don't understand why he left. Why he just left without even saying goodbye.” Julie's eyes were filling with tears so she looked out the window.

“I don't either. But maybe it wasn't goodbye.”

Julie's laugh was bitter. “Maybe. I just want to know what's going on, what he's thinking.”

“Be careful what you wish for, Taylor. You might just get it.”

Julie looked over at Tim and knew he was telling a truth that she couldn't yet understand. So she shrugged and went back to her milkshake.

\---//---

_I've been down, I've been defeated  
You're the message I was heeding  
Would you stay, would you stay the night?_

Julie drove in the dark, the cornfields and emptiness blurring in her peripheral vision. When she wasn't berating herself about Derek, she wondered what Matt saw when he'd first made this drive. She wondered what he'd thought, wondered what regrets he carried with him.

She thought about Tim Riggins, and how he claimed not to do regrets, but any fool could see that he had a whole steamer trunk full of them. She didn't want to carry her disappointments with her. She didn't want one stupid mistake to define her. She wasn't running away so much as she was running to the only place that had ever made sense. 

Maybe there was too much time and space between them. Maybe they'd missed their chance. But she knew that she wanted that truth and she was now ready for it. She wouldn't sink.

/fin


End file.
